One of the best columns I recently read was Margaret Atwood's "we are double-plus unfree."
In her contribution, Atwood surveys the evolution of our freedom from the old times up to the present day. Starting with the line from William Blake's excerpt from his Auguries of Innocence, she goes on gradually stressing how we became victims of our governments to which we willingly surrender.
An illustration that accompanies Atwood's text depicts a bird sitting in an open cage looking out. Comfort is the key to the drawing; a topic examined by so many. One can remember Tennessee Williams' prayer for the wild of heart kept in cages with a hope that some of us might ask for a little more than ease and convenience delivered by today's society. We might ask for freedom. But, convenience goes hand in hand with comfort. And so, the big question appears, fed and warm, would you run from your crate risking going hungry?
Perhaps it is our inclination towards comfort brought about by our instincts of survival that makes us lean towards what is comfortable. We can see examples of it in the animal kingdom. Wild beasts are moving towards the cities for "fast and easy" food without a need to hunt. The "easy" in contrast to the "hard". However, we as a species are aware of our laziness and bad habits. And of course of the consequences of our actions. And that is nicely put forward by Atwood. However convenient and comfortable we get, our comfort becomes our prison, and somehow we are aware that the advantages of today are given to us at a high price.
The loss of privacy, for example, that we are so willingly giving up! Sharing become so comfortable that we do not even stop to think what and how much we are sharing. Everything we do online leaves a digital trail. I have a friend, who has never had a social media account. He gave up his right to travel and threw away his passport. And went "off-road" without a cell phone and a trail. I bet he is happy in his non-existence. At the end of the day, it comes down to what makes us happy. Genuinely happy. Living a real life, day by day, or pretending to do so?
We can choose for ourselves. And when we disappear from the eyes of our followers, we might taste the real thing !
Margaret Atwood: we are double-plus free
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/sep/18/margaret-atwood-we-are-double-plus-unfree
Patrick Barkham: Urban beasts - how wild animals have moved into cities
